The Detective Is Mine
by StormBlitz
Summary: Kid forgave his Tantei-Kun the first time he tangoed with Lupin the thrid, but when the shrunken detective takes on a case for the suit wearing theif, things just might turn ugly.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own no anime associated with this piece of work. Thank you and come again.

* * *

Conan had no idea why he had been led to the Kudo mansion that morning. It was risky. Ran thought he was at school, and the Shounen Tantei thought he was sick in bed. Even Hakase and Ai were unaware of what he was truly doing this morning. It was a truly careless move, for if he were to find himself in some kind of trouble, he would be stuck without backup. Still, no amount of common sense stop himself from opening his door, and against his better judgment, locking it once he had fully entered his old home. As always he was met with a pleasant sense of nostalgia. This house never seemed to age on, even though its owner could not visit it much. Aside from some dust here and there, it still looked the same as it had when he last stepped out the door as Shinichi Kudo. It still smelled the same, the pipes and workings still sounded the same, and, thankfully, it still felt the same. It was still home sweet home.

But today something was different. It was faint, and had he not been looking for something out of place he would have missed it, but there was a new odor in the air. Some kind of foreign cologne if he wasn't mistaken. It was a semi familiar scent that his memory informed him he had been at the mercy of before. It also gave him this resounding feeling that he had somewhat enjoyed the meeting with the figure this smell was associated it with. As to whom it was, his mind was still trying to piece together. He had a feeling he knew. He just needed to dig up the memory. It would have been smarter to wait until he was sure, but again, today his sense was blocked out by a strong need to follow gut instinct. This feeling led him up the stairs, past countless doorways, into his bedroom, and there the smell hit him full force.

It was also then that he realized that there was a man sitting on his bed, reading a newspaper dated about a year ago, with his teenage picture on the cover. Arsene Lupin the third was in his home, in his room, reading about his life, and Shinichi could not help but stare. The older man was humming a tune, the detective was unfamiliar with the song, seeming unaware of his new company.

"You know, I wasn't expecting you for another few hours." Or at least Conan thought he was unaware. "You kiddies don't usually get out until around three."

"Mr. Lupin" Conan said calmly, despite the whirlwind going on in his mind. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He heard a chuckle as the paper was placed down before the thief. For some reason the sound made Conan frown. It had not been like what he had remembered. In fact that laugh, that smile, that supposed happy demeanor, it all seemed so fake. "Please call me Lupin. Mr. Lupin is my father."

Conan usually would have made a sarcastic comment to that overplayed joke, but something told him he would regret it if he were to try. "Lupin then."

This time the smile he received was slightly mischievous. "Great. You can call me by my name, and I'll call you by yours, Shinichi."

It was then that the miniature detective felt his blood run cold.

'How did he...'

His first thought was that it was all over. His secret was out and the Organization would be hearing about it momentarily. His entire life, and all things dear within it, were about to be destroyed. All his hard work had been for nothing. In fact he was as good as dead. His hand twitched, ready to put his stun watch to work, until he noticed a true smile meet his gaze. It was still slightly cunning and sly, but Conan figured that was the way all thieves smiled. Kid did that too, and at least this one was honest.

"Why are you here?"

Lupin threw his legs over the bed and slouched forward slightly. On his lips an impish smirk looked back at Conan with false innocence. "Come on, aren't you going to congratulate me on my brilliant work? I mean it wasn't easy figuring out that Conan Edogawa was really his older "cousin", the great detective Shinichi Kudo."

Conan could not help but feel a bit pleased. "You've impressed me." Let the thief take that bland response as he wanted.

He seemed to take it as praise. "Why thank you my good man. You're kind words have truly eased my soul."

The frown deepened. Even that simple phrase felt half assed. There was something utterly fake about it, something…_fabricated_. The worst part, was that he could tell that it was all just an act. Lupin was a good liar, one of the best the detective had ever seen. There had to have been something seriously wrong with this situation if his skill was slacking so much that Conan could _tell_ he was being fooled.

"Surely you didn't come all the way over here to have a grade-schooler tell you how cool you are."

Lupin tisked as his index finger began to wave back and forth. "Technically you aren't a grade-schooler, and we haven't even begun to express how cool I am!"

What was going on with these fake emotions? They were starting to become a bit frightening. They did not belong here. Not in this room, not in this man. It was too odd for words to explain. When he opened his mouth to try he was interrupted.

"All nonsense aside though," Suddenly the thief was looking at him with stern eyes. Heated determination mixed in with a heavy batch of pure seriousness was aimed at Conan so intensely, that the detective found he had forgotten how to breathe. Never had he remembered seeing that expression on the other man's face before.

"I need your help."

"My help? With what?"

"A case, if you will, that only you are capable of solving."

Now that was a bit of an odd request. What could be so puzzling that the great Lupin the third could not decipher it? "What kind of case?"

"I need you to solve a murder."

A murder? "Whose?"

"My girlfriend, Fujiko's."

* * *

**AN: Yes I killed her. It had to be done for the sake of the plot. I apologize in advance to any Fujiko fans. Fang warned me that you would be angry.**

**On another note, I found that I fell in love with the concept of a Lupin the third and Conan/Shinichi team ever since I saw bits and pieces of the movie online. Being the crossover gal that I am, I found I could not resist trying it out. After all, I've mixed together stranger stories than this before. So I thought, why not? This is basically just a little prologue. I'll see how it fares before continuing it. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Now before we begin, please allow me to explain something. I'm sure I must have ended up confusing some people with that last chapter. Now in the movie Lupin and the gang found out about Shinichi's secret. Like I said, I've only seen bits and pieces of it and I didn't see the ending until just recently. So for the stories sake lets just say they didn't figure it out and just helped Conan get back to Japan, and avoid immigration, as a way to thank him for giving them a challenge.**

**Now I do not own either of these anime's. If I did I would give on to Mistress and make fun of Fang for not having one. **

* * *

Conan looked back down at his notebook. He had grabbed it sometime during the first three minutes of Lupin's explanation and had not put it down since. It was now a mess of scrawls with arrows and lines pointing every which way. He doubted anyone would be able to make heads or tails of the order in which it was created. Hell, he would probably forget all about it once this case was completed, or until he could transfer these notes into some other area. For now the organized chaos was still fresh in his mind, and for now one key point stood out amongst the many questions plaguing it.

"Your team was just thoroughly acquainted with the Black Organization."

Lupin frowned. "Your file mentioned something about them, but what the hell are they? Just some guys running around in black trench coats?"

Conan gazed back down at his notes. "I wish it were that simple. If it were, you most likely wouldn't need my help." He pocketed the small notebook for a second in favor of taking a good look around his room. "Explain how she was killed again? Not too much detail this time, in fact I never want you to rely specifics again until we have this all figured out. This will be the last time you go over this. Agreed?"

"Fine by me." The small detective got the feeling that it was hard enough relating the story the first time. "She was shot from behind."

"Show me."

Lupin jumped up from Conan's bed and glanced at the window. "Let's say that was the door." He quickly walked over to it and turned his back to the glass. "Me and the team were just coming back from a bit of scouting work."

"Did you take anything?" Could this be something as simple as an act of impulse? A simple act of defense against some thieves who had stolen something?

"No. But we found our target."

Well that answered that question. This had been planned, for at least as long as the bandits had been observing the object of their interest, and if what Lupin told him was accurate then that was about a week's worth of time."Which was?"

"A Diamond called the Cursed Heart. We had just agreed on a game plan for the heist."

"When was that going to take place?" That would be an even longer timeframe given to the perpetrator to commit the crime.

"A week after we finished surveillance."

Two week time frame. "Did you stay in a hotel?"

"Yes."

"The same one for the entire duration of your stay?"

"That's right."

That would make it all too easy. "When did you check in?"

"A week before we started the job. Fujiko wanted to sightsee."

Three weeks, almost an entire month, was more than enough time to commit a single act of murder. Even if he didn't count in the first week of their stay in the timeline of possible planning time for the death, two weeks was the equivalent of a year to the Black Organization.

"Alright, act out what happened, exactly as you remember it."

Lupin gave a swift nod. "Well on this day we had just come back from dinner around seven o' clock. Jigen walked in first." He stuffed his hands in his pockets slouching forward slightly as he walked a few feet forward.

"Why was he walking like that?"

"He had a bit too much to eat, so he was feeling pretty sick." The thief stood up straight and resumed his original position in front of the window. "Then there was Goemon." Lupin hobbled a bit and at one point Conan thought he might fall down. "He had a little too much to drink, and as you can guess, it made him a wee bit unbalanced."

Conan raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't seem the type to get drunk easily."

Lupin straightened himself up once more, fixing the wrinkles from his jacket. "I might have had something to do with that. After all I hate sour faces at dinner."

Conan could only imagine what had happened. "Who came in next?"

"On that day I did."

Conan frowned yet again. "On that day? Did you not usually walk in first?"

"Hey, haven't you ever heard the term 'ladies first'?" He gave the chibi the impression that he was being scolded. "Usually I wouldn't let the guys go in before Fujiko. That day they were too unpredictable to try and order around though."

"So how did you come in?"

"Let's see," He slouched forward a bit as well. His arms extended as he swayed from left to right, fingers trying almost desperately to grab onto something. "I was all over the place. Trying to keep Jigen from puking everywhere, and keep Goemon from falling flat on his face." He straightened once more. "And lastly there was Fujiko."

"And how did she walk in?"

"Normally."

"As in?" Normal meant different things for different people, and the organization would have easily been able to pick up on her definition of normal.

Still, something did not make sense. Why target Fujiko? As far as threats to their operations went she was the least of their worries. It would have been better to knock off the head honcho first and then make their way down from there. Killing her first only gave the others time to escape, and reason to want to retaliate. And why pick someplace so public? If this was really the work of the organization, (which the lack of police knowledge of the event, as well as a certain missing stack of surveillance tapes that was never seen again, led him to believe it was) then this was certainly out of the norm for them. Unless they were certain they could take them all out at once then what was the point of making things so blatantly obvious?

"She walked straight with her head held high."

Straight with her head held hi-wait a second. "Did you guys always walk into the hotel room in a straight line?"

Lupin blinked. "Well yeah. There's not really a lot of room outside in that hallway. The _only_ way to walk in is one by one."

That was it! "Lupin, what I'm about to tell you may not be a pleasant thing to hear. In fact I'm sure you'll feel very angry about what will come out of my mouth." He sighed. "But I can tell you want to know why she was singled out, right?"

The thief nodded.

"The truth is she wasn't." He saw the confused look. "That sniper had anticipated taking you all out in one foul swoop. He had obviously been perched on an area far enough to avoid your sights, angled just so to give his bullet a strong enough momentum to go as far as he wanted. You four would return to your room, line up to walk inside, and for one brief moment you would all be aligned perfectly, for just enough time for him to shoot one bullet and hit you all without fail."

Conan saw Lupin's eye widen, without his conscious decision it seemed. "You mean to tell me that this guy _missed_?"

Conan nodded solemnly. "In a way, yes. Your routine had been relatively unchanged for weeks, giving this assassin the opportunity to plan a subtle yet effective plan that would eliminate you all. That jewel you were targeting must have been important to them. Important enough for them to take action against you, but he didn't take into account a night on the town that could ruin his plans."

Lupin seemed unable to speak for a moment. A familiar emotion seemed to overtake his entire being, and Conan knew it well. It had been a veil over his heart for as long as he had taken form into a child. It was guilt. Guilt over not sensing, guilt over not protecting, and guilt over surviving the attack. It hurt, Conan had felt it before so he knew it hurt, and the thief didn't know how to take it.

"I'm sorry." The detective uttered softly. It would do no good in this situation, but he hated the thought of not saying anything. That and he wanted the thief to know that he cared, that he understood. The hell if he knew why, he just did, and at that moment he didn't feel the need to analyze.

"It wasn't your fault." Lupin reminded him solemnly.

"It wasn't yours either."

The thief laughed, albeit a bit bitterly, before reaching out to ruffle Conan's hair. "You're a good kid." His hand lingered in brown locks for a moment before heading for the door.

Conan, however, caught his wrist in his hands. "What are you going to do?"

He heard a sigh. "Take these guys down, or die trying."

The latter did not sound good to Conan. "You can't just jump right in." 'You'll get hurt.'

"She needs vengeance, and if the police won't do it then I will." There was no stopping him. The detective knew that tone. Lupin's mind was made up with a fierce determination that could not be rivaled.

But Conan didn't like how quick he was to throw his life away. "You can't do this alone." He would die. His friends would die. The only true opponent, who believed Conan was more than he seemed, would die. The detective was less an eager to lose something so precious. "You'll end up dead without anyone being able to identify the body. You need help."

"Whose?!" Came the frustrated question as the man rounded on Conan. Yet, even though the rage was real, there was no malice in his eyes. There was pain, and there was doubt, but there was no real malice aimed at the young child.

"Mine." Conan knew how to be firm too. "You've obviously got a plan, and I know I can't stop you from carrying it out. Let me come along to make sure it works."

Lupin shook his head. "This isn't your fight."

"You're talking about the group that ruined my life and stuck me in the body of a child. Not to mention the fact that they murdered my Neesan." He said seriously. "This is as personal to me as it is to you."

"You don't even know us."

That was true. "I know that, even without the knowledge of who I was, you still treated me like a worthy opponent. And you protected me like I was something precious even though I held no real attachment to any of you." He had not been important to someone in a long time. Or rather, he had not felt as though he was worth anything to anyone in a long time. He had been overlooked, put down, and forgotten. Both as Conan Edogawa and as Shinichi Kudo. These thieves, these incredible criminals, had made him feel like he was _needed_ again. "The least I can do is return the favor."

Lupin gave him a long, hard look after that. There was something in his eyes that seemed to pick through every part of Conan's soul. He was looking for something, looking for the truth Conan had hidden from everybody else. That same truth that had been denied from even the detective's most precious people, was staring Lupin right in the face, and there was no shield in front of it. There was no barrier, no maze to wander through, just unfiltered and unrestricted truth. Conan really wanted to help. He really wanted to bring these guys down for Fujiko. And he really was worried about what would happen if the three thieves failed. He wasn't lying.

It was that last thought, more than anything, which made him bring the child up into his arms and crush him into an embrace. Conan did nothing to protest, he even returned it a little. For a few minutes the two stayed in that exact position. It was out of necessity more than need that the thief broke through the comfortable silence.

"There's no stopping you is there?"

"Nope?"

"I figured as much. Well I won't stop you." Lupin pulled back but ultimately refused to put the child down. "But you can't just walk out of here with me without anyone knowing."

Conan gaped at him. "But you just said--"

"I'm not saying I'm going to leave you here. All I mean is that we need a public excuse to have you with us. Just so this organization isn't wondering why the kid who looks so much like Shinichi Kudo is now suddenly walking around with Lupin the Third."

That made sense. "Do you have a plan?"

That same sly smile was his answer.

* * *

"Conan-Kun, are sure you'll be alright?" Ran asked worriedly, adjusting his jacket and buttoning it up more. "You did get sent home sick from school today, and it's positively freezing out here."

Conan smiled brightly. "Hai Ran-neesan."

He mentally applauded Lupin and his arsenal of different voices for earlier on that day. After explaining what they had to do to Conan, the thief had imitated the voice of the young child's Principal to convince Ran that he had been let out early that day. Something about intense nausea and a messy nurse's office or something to that effect. It was a big relief to Conan, who had not come prepared with an explanation as to why he had not been in school when he had ventured out to the mansion that morning. Thanks to the thief's quick thinking he had been spared a punishment and need for such an explanation when the Shounen Tantei showed up at his doorstep asking if he was feeling better. His mother would have been proud of the way he acted like some sick little puppy.

Though right now he was feeling a bit sick to his stomach. It had less to do with a disease and more to do with Lupin's plan for getting Conan to accompany him on this mission of vengeance. Granted, it was a very good plan, and with everyone working so effortlessly together it would probably work. The problem was _where_ it was currently going to take place. A Kid heist. Conan's rival, the first thief to ever wander into his life. The detective could not help but feel guilty for what he was about to do, and a traitorous part of his mind viciously told him that this situation made him seem like some cheating husband.

"This is Black Dove calling out to Silver Hound. Come in Silver hound."

Conan stomped on the red staining his face before it could be noticed, before looking around him carefully. Kogoro was talking to Nakamori about the preparations for the heist. Ran was busy telling the Shounen Tantei the rules of the night, promising teats and toys if they obeyed for _once_, and no one else seemed to be paying any attention to him. Perfect.

He adjusted his earpiece slightly before answering. "First of all those are horrible code names, and yes I'm here. What is it?"

"Awww, I happen to think they suit us."

Conan scoffed. "You maybe, me, not so much."

He could hear a chuckle on the other end of the line. "Think about it. You're a detective, a hound of sorts, and you have to admit you're neither black nor white. Hence the silver."

"Isn't the term 'a gray area'? I don't recall ever hearing anything about a silver."

"Gray is a hideous color and one that does not bode well with your skin tone at all."

Had the thief been there, he would have received one of the blandest stares Conan had ever mustered up. "Your twisted thinking astounds me."

"Just wait until you hear the ones I have for Goemon and Jigen."

Conan heard a loud alarm go off, and at once the people around the building began to scatter. It was the perimeter alarm signaling that Kid had gotten through the barrage of officers trying to keep him out of the clock tower, where a priceless Emerald, the Sea's Mistress if he wasn't mistaken, was being held under lock and key. Conan knew the plan would not be successful. Kid knew this place better than all of them. He had been here many times before. He had stolen from this location dozens of others, even when no one told him the item he was seeking was there. In fact this was where he had first gone up against Shinichi Kudo. Come to think of it, it was three years to the day since that first heist had occurred. In a twisted sort of way it was their anniversary, Kid's and Conan's, or rather Kid and Shinichi's.

He involuntarily groaned. Just what he needed. More guilt.

"Hey Silver Hound, what's with the brooding sigh?"

Conan shook the thoughts from his head. "Nothing, nothing, just going over the plan in my head."

"There's still time to back out you know. You don't have to do this."

For a second the detective could hear a slight rustling, and then a new voice, this one rough and ragged, was heard through the earpiece. "He's right kid. Get out of this while you still can."

The rustling was heard once more, and this time a calmer tone could be heard. "This is no place for children, be it elementary students or teenagers. No one would blame you if you called the whole thing off."

Conan almost felt like laughing. These three seemed oddly concerned about him, which for some reason made Conan very happy to hear. It meant they didn't want to back him into a corner, which meant they were somewhat trustworthy. It also meant they deserved his help. Instinct was really a beautiful thing. "I'll be fine. Just do what we all talked about and I won't have to worry."

Finally Lupin must have managed to take back the microphone his teammates had taken from him. "Like that will even be an issue."

* * *

"Hold it right there Kid!"

The magician smirked. Ah the highlight of the night was about to begin.

Stopping just before the railing of the roof, he turned back to look at the miniature detective that had once again managed to keep up with him. The chibi was panting, eyes narrowed and looking straight at his rival.

"I missed you at my last heist Tantei-Kun." Kid placed his hand over his heart, as though it pained him to say such things. "And now I hear you've been gallivanting around with other thieves." Nothing like a good tease to start things up between the two. Tantei-Kun always got these adorable blushes whenever he was embarrassed, and, hey, he deserved it this time. Ditching Kid for Lupin, really now.

"Well, he caught my eye and I couldn't help but go after him." Oooh, the detective was ready to play tonight.

"I didn't know you went for the older crowd, Tantei-Kun. And here I thought we had something special."

"With age brings experience Kid. He was a bigger thrill than I would have thought."

Well, _that_ was unexpected. "What, have you grown tired of me? After all our time together?"

Conan smirked. "A little change in scene is good every once in a while. Besides, Lupin basically took me around the world before we had to part."

Kid frowned. This had not been the way he had envisioned this conversation going. What on Earth had happened to the detective? Did the chibi actually sound like he had enjoyed his encounter with the older thief? That it had been more stimulating than Kid's heists? That he had gotten slightly fond of Lupin because of it?

"You're hurting my feelings Tantei-Kun." He would ignore for the moment that it was a bit true. "If he's so wonderful, why did you show up tonight?" He would also ignore that his tone had managed to become bitter without his knowledge.

"Do you want me to leave?"

No. "I just don't enjoy speaking of other thieves during my heist nights." He said casually, glad his poker face could make up for what his mind could not. "I'd prefer it if your mind wasn't on _him_." But where the hell had that come from?

"I'm here now aren't I?"

"Yes, and you'd better give **me** your full attention."

Before he had even gotten the chance to finish the sentence, Conan had thrown himself at the unsuspecting thief. It was only by the skin of his teeth that he had managed to dodge the attack. Thank goodness for cat like reflexes. Now this was more like-

Kid's eye went wide when he realized just a fraction of a second too late what he had done. In jumping away from the detective he had successfully removed himself from the detective's immediate reach. However, he had also allowed Conan to jump directly on top of the railings he had moved from, and Conan had been moving too quickly to stop himself. The speed of the jump with the sleekness of the rail only added up to one thing.

"Tantei-Kun!"

The detective was over the railing in an instant, and Kid was at the edge in less time than it took to blink. The thief reached out as well as he could, but missed latching onto Conan's hand by a mere centimeter. For a few terrifying seconds the detective was hurtling towards the ground with no one in sight to catch him, and Kid knew that even if he were to go after him with his glider he would never make it. He was mere milliseconds away from deciding that none of that mattered,

When a hook caught onto Conan's jacket, just beneath the collar. On his part the detective still seemed to think he was falling to his death, and he was screaming and crying for everything he was worth. It took him a moment to realize that he was still alive and still in one piece. He sniffled a little bit and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. People below him were frantically screeching for someone to save that poor little boy who had wandered up onto the roof.

Kid's focus remained on the line. His breathing came slowly to him, and it just about stopped altogether when the line started to move. Then a sudden soft whirling sound the thief had been unaware of before got a little louder as Conan was lifted higher and higher into the sky. Kid's eyes followed him, following his every move until he was finally fished into someone's arms.

And he almost growled. "Lupin the Third."

Said gentleman smiled. "At your service." The master thief and his team appeared to be in a small helicopter painted in midnight black. It blended in so perfectly with the sky surrounding them that it was nearly impossible. The main rotors were so silent that you'd have to be at a pretty close distance to be able to hear them, just like he was now. Lupin stood proudly on the right skid, right in front of Kid, cradling a certain Conan Edogawa.

Kid finally got his wits about him and hoisted himself atop the metal railing of the building. Just as he finished balancing himself as his taskforce burst through the door.

"KID! You're under-"

"Shut up!" Kid shouted threateningly, as if he would forget about his no one gets hurt policy if they did not do what he asked.

The taskforce had been so shocked that they had all frozen to their spots.

Kid took the opportunity to turn his attention back to Lupin, and he was **seething**. "What is it that you want with Tantei-Kun?"

Lupin smiled at him. "Well I could tell you, but first," As quickly as a bat of an eyelash the thief produced a white handkerchief and held it up for Kid's viewing pleasure. He then shoved it to Conan's face. The boy put up a bit of a struggle before going limp in the man's arms. Lupin adjusted him slightly so he would not fall, before giving Kid a thumbs up.

Kid looked ready to jump at him, but stopped when he gazed upon the older man in horror. Lupin had whipped out yet another item, and this time it was Kid's.

His glider switch. "Sorry Kid, but I can't have you coming after us."

This time the magician did growl. "What do want with him?!"

Lupin's eyes got a bit darker then. "I've lost something. Someone who used to be able keep up with everything I did and knew me inside and out. This person was taken from me." He raised Conan slightly. "When this little guy and I met last time he gave me quite the run for my money."

Kid narrowed his eyes. "Is there a point to this? Or this just senile babble?"

Lupin just shook his head, a condescending smile on his lips. "You see, Conan reminds me very much of this person. And since the world took them from me, I'll take Conan from the world." His eyes suddenly grew intensely serious. "So don't interfere."

Something in Kid snapped. Without warning he leaped from his perch towards the helicopter. Lupin ducked into one of the back seats while someone inside threw out three objects. Two were silver and missed the magician thief completely, but that last one was a ball that hit him squarely in the head. Kid had no time to dodge and to his horror his hand missed the skid by mere inches. For a few seconds he thought he would fall to his death, but then his face was properly introduced to the wall of the building. He blinked, confused, and looked up to see that two pairs of handcuffs were attaching him to the railing by his ankles.

Meanwhile the helicopter took flight. It sped off from view, assumingly never to return again. Many down in the audience were screaming in panic, one of the most noticeable was Ran Mouri. However the one that could heard for miles around was not his caretaker's as she reached out for him in the sky.

"TANTEI-KUN!" It was Kid's.

* * *

Lupin let out a sharp breath as the night sky flew past his window. Conan was still in his arms, neither of them really wanting to move from the comfortable arrangement.

"Well," Jigen said awkwardly from the pilot's seat. "That was very dramatic."

Goemon hummed from beside him. "Did you have to say all of that? Everyone in Japan will think you're crazy."

Lupin nodded tiredly. "It was all a part of the plan. Now the world thinks I've gone nuts because I've lost someone important to me. Only the Black Organization know that someone is Fujiko. If they see this, and I'm sure they will, they'll believe that her death caused me to lose grasp of my sanity. They'll pay no attention to Shinichi."

The two in the front seat nodded. "Anything to avoid suspicion."

Lupin opened his mouth to retort with something funny, or at the very least sarcastic, when he noticed the small form shaking in his arms. He knew Conan was awake. That handkerchief had been bare of any kind of drug that would have put him to sleep, even though that was what it had looked like. In fact the detective had been awake the entire time, so he had to have heard everyone crying and calling for him. His friend's, his first love, the thief he had just betrayed…

Lupin pulled Conan back just enough to see shaking eyes with an intense emotion riding through them almost endlessly. Guilt. The same guilt Lupin had shown the younger earlier that morning. That same pain.

In a second the boy was being held tightly against Lupin's chest. Conan shook, though he did not cry, and Lupin held him reassuringly. He ran his hand through the child's hair comfortingly, and whispered soothing words to try and calm him down.

In the front scene both Jigen and Goemon took notice of the scene behind them. They said nothing, so that both thief and detective could keep their dignity, and maybe help the other through whatever pain was coursing through them. They kept their gaze forward and the four rode on in silence.

* * *

**AN: Geez, so dramatic. Sorry if this chapter is a bit iffy. I'm no good at describing crimes and how they're carried out. Mistress had to help me out with that one, and Fang had to help me with the helicopter part since I had no clue. I feel so bad because it's almost three in the morning and poor Mistress is nearly in tears because she's so tired, and Fang is t****rying so hard to stay awake**, and all of this just to help me out. I love my friends. Anyway, thanks to those reviewed and please free to do so again.

**On a completely random note, yes I am that tired, does anyone else find it odd that I was listening to 'Just Be Friends' while writing this? That Vocaloid song sung by Luka Megurine? **


	3. Chapter 3

"This one says we're an overgrown pack of kids with distorted imaginations."

"This one here speculates that we have severe mental problems attributing to our past childhoods.'

"Well this one says we're demons straight from hell, though the way they describe it is a bit insulting."

"If it makes you feel any better this one says you're just run of the mill pedophiles."

Lupin blinked and turned to look over at Conan. "Let me see." Conan moved slightly towards the thief to allow him to get a better view of the newspaper in his hand.

The tension that had surrounded the group last night had all but vanished entirely. It was amazing really, considering how unwilling they had all been to talk. Something had engulfed them the night before. The hell if any of them knew what it was, but whatever it was, it was deep and nearly suffocating. They almost felt as though it would pain them to speak to one another, however ridiculous it may have seemed. So none saw fit to break the silence.

But then Jigen had looked at a newspaper left behind at their hotel lobby and started laughing. The other three, and a good portion of the hotel staff, stared at him as though he were crazy. He then pointed out a section in the paper, the one that had called them a _'Band of freedom deprived thieves who lashed out against their oppressive enemies'_, and it was not long before the rest of them were laughing out loud as well. The comment wasn't particularly funny, but they needed something to laugh about, and this was as good an excuse as any.

So after the initial laugh had died down, Lupin suggested they find every newspaper they could get their hands on and see what other reporters had to say. Each one had a different opinion. One claimed Lupin was a psycho ready to go on a killing spree, another said that the police had killed a member of his family and he was now seeing revenge. Another said that Jigen and Goemon had turned out to be international spies who had betrayed Lupin, and one even said that Conan was really the thief's long lost son that had been taken in by the Edogawa family.

The gang had been up until well into the night reading every perspective on the kidnapping, each more amusing than the last. They had picked up right where they left off at the breakfast table. They still got a kick out of everything being written. Silly reporters.

"I'll have you know that I'm not run of the mill anything." Lupin crossed his arms over his chest, having the mind to pout at the same time. "If I _were_ a pedophile, I'd be the best there ever was."

Jigen nearly spit out his coffee. "That would not be something to be proud of."

Goemon shook his head. Leave it to Lupin to say something like that. His eyes scanned over the paper in his hand again, when something caught his eye. "I do believe you've made a very dangerous enemy."

"I've got hundreds. Which one is it this time?"

Goemon tossed him the article he had been reading, smiling slightly when Conan leaned over the thief's shoulder to see it as well. The boy acted as if they were all family here. He wasn't the slightest bit uncomfortable or nervous. He seemed as though he were right at home. How he could feel that way around criminals was beyond Goemon, but it was amusing to see.

"Kaitou Kid?" Lupin said at last.

Conan looked over the rest of the title. "International thief 1412 declares absolute war on Lupin the Third. He claims with definite certainty that he will retrieve the child known as Conan Edogawa, and he will make the older crook pay for what he has done."

Said crook frowned. "They make me sound like I'm some kind of bad guy."

"You are." Jigen said rather bluntly. "To them at least. You kidnapped a seven year old boy, knocked him out with chloroform, publicly embarrassed a widely beloved local thief, and basically announced you were going mad." He took a sip of his coffee before smirking at the now gaping thief. "I'm surprised they haven't sent the torches and pitchforks after us."

"But none of that's true!"

"Except for the embarrassing of the local thief portion." Goemon interjected. He noticed Conan eyeing Jigen's cup of coffee. "Would you like some?"

The boy nodded. "Yes please."

Jigen rose from his seat. "Let me get it. Goemon's horrible with anything coming from the twenty first century."

The swordsman glared at his partners retreating form. "So what's the plan now? We have…" He blinked at Conan. "What exactly would you like to be called?"

Conan did not know what to say at first. The question took him back a bit. He had assumed that the bandit's would refer to him as his child persona. Everyone else did, well except for Hattori. He never imagined that they would even care to ask if that was what _he_ wanted to be addressed as.

"Uh…"

"Well that helps." Lupin remarked playfully, setting the newspaper aside. "Conan's fine for when we're out in public, or in the presence of someone who only knows you as an Edogawa. But when it's just us guys we need something different to call you. Conan would sound too weird."

How was he supposed to answer that? "Whatever you want, I guess."

Lupin seemed satisfied with the answer. "I'll call you Chibi-Tantei!"

Goemon rolled his eyes. "I'll stick with Shinichi."

Jigen returned to the table with a hot mug of coffee in his hands. He blew on it a bit before he placed it into Conan's eager hands. Waiting until the first sip had been taken, he asked, "So what do other people call you?"

Conan tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Nicknames kid, what other nicknames do people have for you?"

That was an easier question. "Let's see, most know me as the Detective of the East, but there are some others. Heisei Holmes, savior of the police force, Kudo, Silver Bullet-"

"Didn't Lupin call you silver something or other?"

Lupin huffed. He was apparently offended that his friend had forgotten his 'brilliant' codename. "It was Silver hound."

"I'll stick with something classic. That alright with you boozu?"

"Boozu?"

Jigen nodded as he took over the seat on the other side of Conan. "I called you that a lot when we first met. If I've got to call you anything, it might as well be something you're semi familiar with."

Conan didn't know what to say. "Thank you." Well that worked.

Goemon gave him a small nod. "Now, I'll ask again, what's the plan? We have Shinichi, and we have a credible enough excuse for keeping him. What do we do now?"

"Start from the beginning." Lupin said seriously. "This organization seems larger than anything we've ever come up against before. We can't go all out like we usually do. We have to take this one step at a time."

"Starting with Neesan's murder." Conan added. "If we unravel that mystery first, then the rest of the veil around the Black Organization will eventually crumble. We know what happened that night. We just need the evidence to tell us how it all turned out that way."

Jigen caught a whiff of what the two of them were thinking. "You want to return to the scene of the crime."

Conan nodded. "I also want to take a look at what you guys were planning to steal. If it was valuable enough to kill over, then it's likely to be an item they need to put some kind of plan into action."

"And if it's not?"

To that Lupin simply smiled. "Then we'll just take it to tick them off."

It was stupid, foolish, and an awfully childish way of handling the situation. Yet it made the four of them smile and nod their agreements.

"So when do we leave?"

* * *

Kaito pulled at his hair, and this time he could swear he had drawn blood. This was so utterly frustrating there were no words to fully describe it. How had that heist gone so terribly wrong?

He had gone over every event in his mind over and over again, just looking for that one aspect he had overlooked. He scoured his memory for that one door he had accidently left open for Lupin the Third. There had to have been some crack the older thief had used to slip in on Kid's territory. But for the life of him he could not find it. There was only one thought floating through his tired mind. How could he have been so careless?

Even if the other thief had not been on his mind, other dangers should have made Kid that much more careful. Both he and the detective had been constant targets of vicious attacks. The hell if Kaito knew why, but he didn't need the specifics to keep their encounters safe. If they were going to play the game, they had to have the playing field secure enough for them to move around. When he had allowed his efforts to slack so much was beyond him, but Lupin had seen the opportunity, and Tantei- Kun had paid the price for Kid's mistake.

He needed to make this right again. But how?

The teenager slammed his hands against his computer desk. He had spent days looking for some type of clue to where his favorite detective was. No sleep, no school, very little food, and he still had nothing. He knew time was of the essence. Lupin the Third was a self proclaimed madman. Something had happened, something very significant, to make the man crack beyond the possibility of repair. But what?

Kaito was no detective. He could not put random pieces together to create a picture, at least one that would make sense anyway. How was he supposed to come up with an answer to a question that had not even been fully asked? It was hopeless.

The miniature detective came into his mind again, along with the face a much saner Lupin the Third. The two had met once before. Kaito knew that only because he had researched why the smaller boy had felt it necessary to miss Kid's heist. Kaito didn't know all the specifics, but apparently the young Holmes in training had gone up against the whole Lupin team. But now that he thought about it, he had only seen three in the helicopter that night. The three men, but where had that women gone?

Kaito's fingers found the keyboard again. Hacking though various websites he thought might be of use, he looked for any kids of photograph of the thieves as a unit. Just as he thought most of them contained four members. Lupin the Third, a samurai looking fellow, someone with a fedora, -who the hell even wears those anymore? - and a female with hair that had obviously been dyed more times than Kid had even changed wigs, in both of his lifetimes. Why had she not been present that night?

Kaito then started to search for any kind of chronological set of photos. He ended up hacking into the file of one Inspector K. Zenigata, who was the lead detective on the Lupin the Third case. In the magician's opinion he was doing a crappy job, but that was a thought for another day. For now this man seemed to have what he needed. Kaito looked through every page carefully, noting the date and place, even the time, attached to each photograph in the man's gallery. Just as the young Kaitou thought, the woman as in almost every single picture where the other three were involved, and she was also in just about every picture Lupin was in, even if the other two were not. She seemed important, if only to the thief whose group she was involved in.

He soon came to the end of the online album. The second to last picture was dated about a month before his last heist. It had all four members walking down a street of a local city in Argentina. The last was dated only four days before Kid saw Lupin take Conan. This one was still in Argentina, but it lacked one key member of the great thieves' team. The young woman that had been so prominent in all the other pictures was gone. Add to that the fact that Lupin looked far too somber in the photograph, and Kaito realized what he had meant when he said was replacing one person with another. This woman must have gone missing, and Conan was the compensation Lupin was looking for because of that.

This woman had run away, been kidnapped, or murdered. If she had run away, then Lupin had not been all too sane to begin with. He must have been obsessed with her in an overly romantic sense. If she had decided to leave him, he must have lost all semblance of logical thinking, and sought to fill the void any way he could. Because Conan had been the last notable acquaintance the thief ever came into contact with, it only made sense that Lupin would remember him once the woman ran out. In a frantic crazed daze he could have associated the two as one in the same. To a rejected lunatic it would have made perfect sense to take Conan.

If she had been kidnapped, then the young detective could have been nothing more than ransom. Someone against the youth or the Edogawa family could have wanted the boy for their own. They could have accidently come into contact with the Lupin gang and could have found out about their encounter. As a last ditch effort, this guy could have taken the woman with the pretense that they would harm her if he would not bend to their will. They could have told him it was the kid or the girl, and Lupin would have decided that she was more important to him than some kid.

If she had been murdered, then Lupin either wanted him as a cop, or as a replacement. The thief must have heard by now what a good little detective the boy was. How much of a help he had been to other detectives and police officers alike. If that was the case, then maybe the thief wanted the little boy to solve the case for him. Honestly, it was better than the thief replacing the dead girl with Conan's presence. That meant the guy was sick with loss, and had decided to misplace that grief with an incredible desperation for some kind of control. He would take a life since one was stolen from him. This time he would choose a younger, more likely to stay at his side, victim. It would be too easy. A child would do what they were told, even if that child was smart. Especially if said child wanted to get out of an experience that seemed dangerous, and live to tell the tale. Come on, how many cases of missing children weren't solved until after the one who took them was dead?

The reason for why did not matter. All that mattered now was getting the detective back alive. And now he had somewhere to look. He glanced at the bolded location at the last image. Criminals always did go back to the scene of the crime.

"Buenos Aires, Argentina here I come."

* * *

"Hey, come to think of it, wasn't this place in some musical Madonna was in?"

"Lupin…just…shut up and don't talk for the rest of flight."

* * *

**AN: I had to end it that way. It kills me to be so serious all the time. On another note you'll notice that this is the third chapter. I have a friend, Mistress, who is on the third chapter of her own Detective Conan story as well. Because the two of us are in the same type of situation, graduating in the spring, trying to find a good college, we decided to not make the other look bad. We will update these two stories together. When one is posted, so will the other one. **

**On yet another note, I'm starting to wonder when Vocaloid songs started dictating the content of my stories. This was written while listening to World Is Mine by Len Kagamine. I find it odd.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Kay, a new chapter done in celebration of finally having things slowed down. This chapter tends to be a bit lighter than most will be, and as such I felt compelled to do something rather silly. In this chapter I've put in the names of a few friends of mine as well as my own. The names will be given to small characters, but if you can match them with the correct pen name, I will write something of your choosing pertaining to this story. I'll even start you off with a hint. There are five names in total, and two of them are not registered users, but we've all had our names show up on the sight. Good luck.**

"_Anything italicized is someone's thoughts.__** Anything italicized and bold is someone speaking in English. **_**Anything bold is Spanish. **Anything written regularly is in Japanese."

* * *

Conan decided then and there that he would never come to understand why Kid chose to cross dress at 99% of his heists. It was awkward, demeaning, and it just wasn't natural. He had to force himself not to fiddle with the black wig on his head. It helped that one hand was holding onto to Lupin's while the other clenched tightly at a small red handbag. It was no less emasculating, but having his hands busy made it easier to keep his cover in check. It also helped that Goemon, who was walking on the other side of Lupin, was dressed in very much the same fashion.

"I don't see why _I_ had to be the one to wear the dress."

The Frenchman waved off any anger he felt coming from the samurai. "I already told you. Here we have to lay low. What better way to do that than to pose as a family of tourists?" He smiled cheekily, dark brown wig and glasses never for a second hiding his true nature. "Chibi-Tantei is our lovely daughter, you're the blushing bride, and I'm the handsome father."

Jigen coughed to try and hide his laughter. He had not changed too much in appearance. More like he simply masked the traits he already had with the help of a pair of sunglasses and a beatnik hat. "And what am I supposed to be?"

"My crazy younger brother who mooched his way onto our family vacation."

Conan ignored what the gunman had replied with. Instead he focused his attention on the various TV sets the group was passing by. Each held a different channel with the surprisingly same story from their respective reporters. Kid was on the trail for Lupin. Part of the not child was flattered that the thief would care so much as to try and rescue him, but, and it was here that he held onto to Lupin's hand a bit tighter, another part hoped the moonlit thief would never find him. The situation was too grave. The possibility of failure was too high. Kid would be much safer in Japan, away from him.

"**Hola. ****¿Cuál es tu nombre?"**

Conan brought his attention back to reality. Staring at him was a young girl, with chocolate hair and eyes, looking at him with a shy smile on her face. His mind backtracked to what she must have said just seconds ago. His Spanish was about as good as his English, but he had not used it in a while. He hoped it was not as rusty as he thought it was. **"****Mi nombre es Alina. ¿Quién eres?"** He said in a fairly feminine voice. He hoped it was decent, as he was unable to use his bowtie for the occasion.

She smiled brightly and pointed to the bag in Conan's hand. Her parents laughed lightly beside her, mimicking Lupin and the gang as they all looked in on the young encounter.

"**Me gusta tu bolso."** She said sweetly. **"****Es un color bonita."**

She liked his purse. It was a bit of sting because Lupin had taken it from a local's stand. Conan didn't like having it, not only because he was a boy, but because it was a shame to take something for someone when that someone was not going to take care of it as well as it deserved. The handbag was handmade, he could tell by the stitches and the way the material was put together, and it had been worked on extensively. It was too bad he was the one who had it since he would probably throw it out later. Or maybe…

He held out his arm, the one holding onto the accessory the little girl admired. **"Usted puede mantenerlo, si lo desea." **He held it out further to her, offering the bag as a gift.** "****Realmente no me quiere."**

She seemed shocked that he didn't want it. She almost looked ready to deny his offer, but Conan placed the strap in her hand. After a second the little girl smiled brightly and enveloped the detective in a huge thankful embrace. **"Muchas gracias.****Te prometo que cuidaré bien de ella."**

"**Yessenia,"** Her mother called gently. **"Es hora de ir a casa."**

The small girl waved goodbye as she and her parents disappeared behind an ally. The purse continued to remain firmly clutched in a tiny hand.

"That was nice of you."

Conan looked up to three smiling adults.

"She seemed happy."

Conan felt his face flush, and turned sharply to avoid being seen. "Shut up. It was no big deal. I wasn't going to use it after today anyway, and she really seemed to like it. What's the use of stolen goods if they're not in the hands of someone who's going to take good care of them?"

He found his head being ruffled by three different hands. It was Lupin, though, who eventually spoke. "Now you're starting to understand the point of good thieves."

Conan slapped the hands away from his head. "What do you mean good thieves?"

"Well maybe good is a bad way to put it. Gentlemen thieves would be a better description."

* * *

Conan looked at the hallway with a critical eye. Void of their disguises, the three thieves and their detective companion looked for any minute piece of evidence they could find. But just as they thought, the place had almost been wiped clean. They had been there for a good four hours, and yet they still could not find anything that would lead them to anything close to a clue.

"Not even a bullet mark." An irritated Conan muttered. "Are you sure this is the place?"

Lupin nodded. "I'm pretty sure I'm not going to forget it any time soon."

Jigen cursed under his breath. Conan noticed he had not pulled out a cigarette in about thirty minutes. Strange, seeing as he usually went for a smoke every time he became irritated. He had probably run out. "Did we really think they would slip up this badly? If they were smart enough to almost kill us off with one shot, then they know what they're doing. They wouldn't leave something behind."

Goemon kept his eyes on something off in the distance. He seemed dazed but Conan noticed the absolute focus within his gaze. What was so important that it would require such attention?

Before he could ask, Goemon grabbed him by the collar of his shirt before slicing a nearby door open and throwing him inside. Conan wound up rolling off the bed he had landed on and onto the floor. Less than a second later all three thieves ran inside as gunshots started to ring throughout the air. It only took a moment to understand what was going on. The four of them had come back to find out where the man who killed Fujiko had gone, and it turned out he had never left.

_"Why would he return to the scene of the crime?"_ Had he known they were coming back? Was this a trap? Or was this the break they'd been hoping for? It was hard to think straight with the sound of bullets rushing through the air like rapid fire winds in the fall. Honestly, he had never heard so many dangerous pops before in his life, and never before was he right in the middle of it all. Something about it made him feel scared.

Over the shots being nailed into walls and widows, he cursed himself for his weak state of mind. He faced death on a daily basis, and here he was afraid of a couple of gunshots? He had dealt with them before. Why was he so afraid of them now?

As if to remind him of just what aspect of a gunshot should be feared, one bullet rushed by just a little too close to his face. He involuntarily let out a small scream when a bit of blood from the scratch started to run down his face. Then, after one more heated shot from a pistol, the area grew eerily silent.

Conan finally allowed himself to breath. He could numbly hear the sound of footsteps resonating through the room. Had he been a bit more _not panicked_ he might have been able to determine how much there were and where they were heading. But the blood was still pounding through his skull, and he had yet to determine a way to cease its continuation. For now he thought it best to stay where he was.

"Hey, Chibi-Tantei, you ok?"

Who on earth-

Conan had little time to ponder as he was picked up for Lupin's observations. When the thief noticed the bloody cheek he nearly blew a blood vessel. "Did one of them hit you?"

Conan shook his head to force his mind back into coherence. "Just a scratch."

"Then why are you acting so weird?"

He wished he knew the answer to that. "I don't know."

Lupin sighed and adjusted the child in his arms. The position was reminiscent of the first time the thief had held Conan back at the Kudo mansion. Just like then, Conan laid his head on Lupin's shoulder. The thief noticed that he suddenly looked awfully tired. "You worry me sometimes."

"Sorry." It was then he noticed that there were two others missing from the room. "Where are Papa and Goemon?"

Lupin motioned towards the door. "They went to find out where the shooter was. Maybe catch him if he stuck around."

Not likely. "We should go too."

"Are you up to it?"

Conan nodded. "Let's go. I want to question him if he's still there." Not that he really believed that a member of such a cautious organization would be caught after failing a mission _twice_, but it was an excuse to get Lupin moving again. He never did like being fussed over too much.

Lupin took the cue and walked out into the hallway, only to come face to face with a middle aged man looking sternly back at him. The man, obviously of Spanish descent, had a fine trimmed beard and mustache with blue eyes that radiated authority, and a sort of unknown threat. And that was why Lupin had 'eeped' very childishly and swiftly hugged Conan tighter, almost as though he were afraid the man would take the child from him. Conan let out an uncomfortable grunt as his chest became associated with Lupin's broad shoulder.

"_**Can I help you?"**_ Lupin shifted so that Conan was nearly impossible to see from the man's point of view. He mentally cursed himself for tossing out those disguises earlier. He had thought it best to keep switching outfits incase Pops, or even Kid, was on the lookout for them. Switching costumes had always kept Pops guessing in the past, and Kid had no idea how he operated. It seemed like a good idea at the time. He had just neglected to supply new ones when they got to the hotel.

Conan turned his mouth to whisper in Lupin's ear. "You're speaking in English."

Luckily, the man soon lost that hard look in his eyes and relaxed a little. _**"Are you alright señor?"**_ He asked in a semi thick, yet still very understandable, Spanish accent.

Lupin blinked. He continued to do so for a few seconds before Conan gently kicked him in the abdomen. _**"We're fine. You, uh, speak English?"**_

The man nodded as he held a hand to his heart in relief. Lupin wished he could do the same. _**"Thank goodness. I was afraid those shots had taken more lives from this hotel."**_

"_**I beg your pardon?"**_

The man turned his head towards the area where the gunshots had come from, and ushered Lupin towards a hallway where a stairway lay. The Frenchman allowed himself to be led to and down its steps, and followed the others lead. Not like he knew where they were going anyway.

The man was still looking in every direction with an overly cautious eye. _**"A little over a month ago, my wife told me she had heard shots ringing out from somewhere on the second floor. She had been locking up by herself that night since I had been called away to talk with the local landowner. When she heard the noises, she went up to investigate and make sure all of the guests were alright. When she got up there, she saw the body of a woman scattered across the floor."**_

Both Conan and Lupin felt their muscles tense.

The man did not notice. _**"When the police arrived, there had been nothing there. They thought she had been making the whole thing up."**_

"_**Did you believe her?"**_ Lupin asked.

Here the man's head lowered substantially. _**"I didn't at first. There was nothing to prove that anything had happened. No bullet shells,"**_ Those would not be left behind. _**"No one else said they heard anything,"**_ If you were intimidating enough no one would say a word. _**"And most importantly, there was no body." **_Those were easy enough to hide if you knew what you were doing. _**"I thought maybe she had gotten scared and imagined the whole thing."**_

"_**Thought implies that that was what you used to think. What changed your mind?"**_

Lupin did not get his answer right away. Instead the three of them walked, well Conan just lay there and enjoyed the ride, down to the second floor of the building and into what appeared to be an employee office. Only, and oddly enough, there were no employees to be seen. The entire lower level of the place was empty. Lupin could not even catch sight of the woman who had let them go upstairs to begin with.

"_**One night she was caught up in those so called 'imaginary' gunshots."**_ The older man proceeded to close all the curtains in the room. He offered Lupin a seat with a gesture of his hand. He himself leaned against a nearby counter while the thief made himself comfortable.

Lupin almost didn't want to ask. _**"Did she survive?"**_

The man's eyes darkened. _**"Six blows to the head."**_

The thief decided that _now_ would be a good time to remain quiet. His question had already been answered anyway. Unless she was superman, that woman had been dead before her body even reached the ground.

"_**Ever since Angelina's death, anyone who ventures up towards room 207 had been shot at or disappeared. I tell my staff not to rent out that floor anymore. Come to think of it, how did you get up there?"**_

"_**Well Mr..."**_

"_**Áveires."**_

"_**Áveires, your lovely staff were the ones to give us a room on that floor."**_

Lupin could hear the man curse. _**"That's what I get for hiring young people."**_

A tap from beneath the counter where the Spanish man was leaning against had both thief and detective nearly jumping out of their skin. Áveires however simply held up his hands in apology, and slid open a lower cabinet door that the Japanese duo had not even noticed. Out crawled a little boy with features similar to the hotel owners.

"_**Your son?"**_ Lupin guessed.

The Spaniard nodded. _**"Jonathan had been with my wife when she died. He was the only survivor."**_

Conan found himself turning his head to glance down at the little boy. What he was instantly drawn to was the boys face. Such emotionless eyes he had. No real child should ever have those. Ever.

The detective jumped out of Lupin's arms, much to the thief's protest, and landed near the boy that physically looked close to him in age. _**"Do you speak English?"**_

Jonathan nodded. _**"My mom was American." **_He numbly stuck out his hand._** "What's your name?"**_

Conan had to think for a minute. Neither the boy, nor the hotel owner seemed to recognize who he was. _**"Arthur."**_ He answered before finally taking the boy's hand and giving it a firm shake.

Lupin face palmed before plastering on a smile _**"And I'm his father Russell."**_

Conan turned his attention back to the little boy in front of him. _**"Did you see what happened to your mom?"**_

The boy's eyes took on an empty quality. It sort of looked like how Conan's eyes used to be. Before Lupin, before Kid, before he realized he had a purpose again. _**"Yes."**_

"_**Mine died too."**_ He had already stolen for a good cause. He might as well add in another good crime to the mix. _**"I think yours might have seen her."**_

A bit of life dwindled in Jonathan's eyes. _**"Really? That women?"**_

Before Conan had time to answer, he felt Lupin put a hand on his shoulder.

"_**Why don't you two go play while I have a chat here with Mr. Áveires?"**_ The thief looked back up to the innkeeper. _**"You know any safe place these two could play?"**_

The man nodded. _**"Jonathan knows a lot of the neighborhood kids. In fact,"**_ He walked over to the desk placed in the center of the room. From it he took out a pen and a piece of scrap paper he used to jot something down. Once completed and looked over, he handed it down to Jonathan. The boy folded it up and put it in his pants pocket.

"_**I'll send them to the local daycare. The woman who runs it is a good friend of mine. Don't worry, the tab is on me."**_ He nodded once to Jonathan and pointed towards the door. _**"Hurry, before she serves lunch without you."

* * *

**_

Conan would admit that she was pretty. He had not expected the caretaker of about a dozen other children to be so friendly and warm, and good looking. What he had expected was a grumpy bat who looked about as old as the dirt she angrily stomped on.

The daycare worker smiled at the two boys upon answering her door. The smile only grew in warmth when she saw that Jonathan had a friend with him. The note he passed her must have told her all she needed to know, because she let them right in without asking for any type of payment.

"**Gracias señora Calina."** Jonathan said politely.

She gave the boy a soft pat on the head. _**"I see you have a new friend."**_ She held up the piece of paper for Conan's viewing pleasure. _**"It says here that you speak English."**_

Conan nodded.

"_**Wonderful. Most of the kids here are trying to learn English. Feel free to test them on what they know." **_Swiftly she ushered the two boys inside. _**"Have fun."**_

Jonathan led the way into the largely populated day care facility. Dozens of small children ran around the perimeter of any and all rooms they could get away with running in. Jonathan told Conan not to focus too much on them. They were all the younger kids, he said, who needed to be looked after constantly. The oldest child down on the first floor was five. The two of them, on the other hand, were old enough to look out for themselves. They were allowed to go up to the second floor of the three story building.

Conan kept his vision sharp. He had no idea how grave his team's, and it felt kind of nice to consider himself a part of a team again, situation was. He had not seen Goemon or Jigen before he left. Nor had he seen the shooter who had tried again to assassinate them a second time. But there was something that was bothering him.

The hotel owner said that a number of shootings had occurred since Fujiko's death a few weeks prior. It had to be the Black Organization. The cleanup and un-detailed records kept for these shootings could only mean it was their work. So why had the job been so sloppy? Why was the assassin someone careless enough to keep shooting at random? Why had he decided it was a good idea to keep shooting until he got what might have been the thieves he had failed to kill? That just reeked of panic and amateur reflexes. Why would someone like that be in the organization in the first place?

Well, the only way he would get some answers would be to talk to a witness. And there was only one in the entire country of Argentina who would be able to tell Conan what had happened.

"_**Jonathan,"**_ Conan whispered before the boy opened one of the last doors on the floor. _**"I need you to tell me what happened to your mom."**_

Jonathan turned around to face him. Those same empty eyes were searing into the detectives like heated daggers. They almost made Conan want to flinch away. They were…_painful_ to look at. _**"What does that matter?"**_

"_**What's that supposed to mean? She was your mom."**_

"_**And no one believed **_**her**_** when she said something was wrong. Why should anyone believe me?"**_ His gaze lowered to the ground. _**"No one would anyway."**_

"_**I would."**_ Conan insisted. _**"I think she saw something really important."**_

"_**Then why did everybody ignore her!"**_ Jonathan's head shot back up. Tears brimming the corners of his eyes, his body shook in restrained emotion. Anger, sorrow, guilt, suddenly it all made sense. Those eyes Conan had seen before, they had not been empty at all. They had just been numb.

Conan suddenly had the desire to give the other a hug. _**"The police were stupid. They should have paid attention. Because they didn't she died. I know that makes you upset."**_

Jonathan looked ready to protest.

"_**They took someone from me too, remember?"**_ The boy nodded. _**"I came here to get justice for her, to take down the people who hurt her. I can do the same for your mom."**_

The boy's eyes widened. They started shaking, like the tears he held back were suddenly going to pour out at any minute now.

"_**But I need your help. You're the only who saw what happened. The only one who can give me the clues I need to put these people behind bars. Will you help?"**_

Jonathan started to cry. No shrieks, no shouting. Just sobs of painful realization, and flowing creeks of memories. For the first time that day he seemed like an actual kid. He was just a little boy who had lost his mom, and carried the burden of being the last to see her alive. A little boy who had lived through the pain of surviving, just like Lupin had, with the regret of outliving his mother.

"_**It was late,"**_ He muttered. _**"It was late the night when papi had gone out of town. Mami had seen someone dead on the second floor. But no one believed her. She told me she was scared someone was attacking the hotel, maybe someone looking for papi."**_

It had been chance, Conan noted, that anyone bore witness to the aftermath of the first crime. Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon had already left by then. Jonathan's mother must have just missed the action when she came up. Not knowing the situation, of course she would rush to the conclusion that it was her family under attack.

"_**She kept hearing them. Different people kept going missing. She was afraid that someone might have thought we were responsible."**_

That would have most certainly been the case if someone had reported someone missing. Multiple reports would have been even worse. The fact that they had all been at the same hotel before they disappeared would have looked suspicious.

"_**So one night she went up to the same floor, in front of the same room, to see if she could find something. Anything she could to give to the police. I followed her up, to try and play a game with her. She was mad for a second. So I tried to make her go along with the game."**_

"_**What did you do?"**_

"_**I ran around her in circles for a little while to get her dizzy. Then I ran inside the room to play hide and seek."**_

"_**Where did you hide?"**_

"_**Under the bed. She was going to come and get me, but then these shots started ringing out. They were flying everywhere. Bouncing off everything, and then,"**_ A few more tears fell to the floor. _**"Then she fell. There was so much blood."**_

Conan needed more, and he needed to steer the boy away from too harsh memories. _**"What happened next?"**_

"_**After a while, he came down."**_

"_**How'd you know it was a man?"**_

Jonathan wiped at his eyes. When he finally looked back to Conan, they held some slight annoyance in them. _**"Unless a girl can look that fat with legs that sound like a steel monster truck, then it was a man."**_

Conan held up his hands in defense. _**"Okay, sorry, continue."**_

"_**He cleaned up a bit. I thought he would take mami too, like he did with the things he shot, but then he heard my papi calling me. He ran."**_

Still, Conan needed more. This story would all be well and good when he caught the son of a gun, but he needed something that would help capture him in the first place. _**"Think Jonathan. Was there anything he left behind? Anything he overlooked that's still in that room?"**_

Jonathan scratched his head, trying to force his memory to come back to him. The action paid off. _**"The floor in that room has always been made of wood. One of the boards has had a hole in it since the day the room was made. When that man shot mami, one of the bullets went through that hole."**_

That was it! _**"Did he ever find it?"**_

Jonathan shook his head. _**"No. He tried to look for it, but he never noticed the hole in the floor."**_

Bingo! _**"Jonathan, I need to get back to the hotel. I have to find that bullet. Is there any way I can sneak out of here without Calina noticing?"**_

Jonathan nodded, and quickly opened the door in front of him. There was only one other child in the room. A little girl was at a table coloring some strange picture. She looked up when she noticed the two boys letting themselves into the room.

"_**Katarina,"**_ Jonathan whispered. _**"I need your help."**_

She nodded enthusiastically before bounding over to Jonathan. She crushed him in her arms when she got close enough. _**"What do you need?"**_

He pushed her away. Ignoring the pout and whines she made, he alerted her to Conan's presence. _**"He needs to sneak out of here now."**_

"_**Ooooooooooooooooo!"**_ She pointed at him accusingly._** "You're breaking the rules!"**_

"_**Yes."**_ He said bluntly. _**"Yes I am. Now help him get out of here."**_

She pouted again. _**"Fine."**_ Grudgingly she walked over to a toy chest in a corner of the room. She pulled from it what looked like a rope ladder made from various pieces of material. Nodding to herself, she went over to one of the windows and opened it up. _**"Two people need to hold this."**_

Jonathan nodded and went over to lend a hand.

But Conan suddenly had an idea. _**"Do you guys have a disguise I could wear? Something I could put on so that no one will recognize me?"**_ It was good to have a backup plan in case he got caught.

Jonathan pointed to the toy chest. _**"Just the clothes the girls dress up in."**_

Well wasn't that just a kick in the head? _**"Fine. Those will work."**_

Katarina rushed over to the toy chest of humiliation and pulled out an entire arsenal of girlish items. She took the liberty of dressing Conan up like one of her plastic Barbie dolls. It was the most embarrassing thing Conan had ever experienced. He ended looking somewhat like that Yessenia girl he had seen earlier that day, in a sparkling blue dress and matching shoes. The only difference was that he didn't have her pigtails.

"_**Done!"**_

"_**What's done?"**_

The three in the room froze when the new voice was introduced. They saw, standing in the doorway, two girls about their age. One was unknown to Conan, but the other he had seen before. And it was the girl who he had given a purse to in the market.

"_**This isn't what it looks like, Lesley."**_ Katarina said nervously. _**"We were just playing."**_

Yessenia took a good look at Conan. She seemed to **recognize** him, even with the change of wigs.

Lesley took a look at the rope Jonathan was holding. _**"What are you doing with that thing?"**_

Katarina tried to come up with a good excuse, but after moments of useless trying, she let out a shout of "Seize her!", and jumped on top of the other. From there she tried to stuff one of her socks in Lesley's mouth.

Yessenia just blinked in confusion.

Jonathan motioned for her to come to him. She did so curiously.

"_**I need you to hold onto this half of the ladder so that he can get out of here, okay?"**_

She looked unsure.

"_**He's going to figure out who killed my mom."**_ He tried again. _**"And then he's going to make sure they pay. But he needs to find something first. We have to help him, okay?"**_

She nodded happily after the explanation. It seemed to Conan that she would do anything to make Jonathan happy. So she took hold of the other side of the rope-ish ladder, and together the two of them hoisted it over the window sill. Conan wasted no time in climbing down it. It was no easy task to do so in the dress and shoes he currently had on. It was also a great deal harder to hold onto the ladder with a bag of his original clothes stuck in his hand. He would apologize to whoever Hose was for taking his backpack, if they ever met up in life.

"_**Hey Arthur!"**_ Jonathan called out when Conan got his feet on the ground. _**"When you catch the guy who did it, send me a picture of him behind bars."**_

Conan smiled. _**"Will do."**_

The detective broke out into a run. He must have looked so strange. Here he was, running through the streets in a sparkling dress, heels, a backpack in his hand, and a cell phone next to his ear. He would look back on it in complete disbelief later on.

At that moment he just needed to get in touch with the thief he was so desperate to help. "Come on, come on. Pick up, pick up."

"Chibi-Tantei!" A voice from the other line answered. "Something huge has just happened."

"I know." Conan breathed out. "Jonathan-"

"Tell me about it later."

"It's important though!"

"I know, but you need to get back to the hotel stat."

"Are you even listening to-"

"Goemon and Jigen caught the guy who was shooting at us."

This day could not have gotten any better. "I'm on my way."

* * *

**AN: Good God that was a horrible chapter to work through. The languages, the names (which I'm convinced I made far too easy), more detective work, and the work on the wording was just ridiculous. Not to mention how long it took to post it up. I'm half convinced that it should be scrapped. Though I suppose I have a duty to readers to post what is complete. Do tell me if I was better off tossing it though. **

**Vocaloid song of the day? Melody by Miku Hatsune. **


	5. Chapter 5

Conan had expected a lot from the man who had murdered one of the most cunning women in human history. He had expected skill, expert instinct, and a sort of dark atmosphere that just felt like death was on its way. What he had not expected was for that man to not be so much of a man at all.

"He looks no older than I used to be." Conan observed. "In fact he looks like a little kid."

The teenager tied to the chair looked ready to try and break free with the sole purpose of punching Conan in the face. "So says the miniature drag queen."

Conan had half a mind to toss down his bag and throw a tantrum. But that would make him seem too much like a diva, which was not what he needed right now. Not in his current attire. "I'm surprised you found him."

Jigen smiled smugly. "It wasn't too hard. After I shot at where the bullets were flying from, he was easy to chase after."

'So that was what happened earlier.'

Jigen must have literally taken a shot in the dark when the group had come under fire. In an attempt to fight back with something of proper damage, he shot at the general area where he noticed the bullets were coming from. Obviously he had either hit the shooter, or the shooters weapon. Then he and Goemon had broken off into a run to try and corner the attacker where he stood, hopefully, caught off guard. They had succeeded.

"Did he say anything?"

The gunman shook his head. "He's been absolutely silent. Kid's actually pretty tight lipped."

"I am not a kid!" The captured boy shouted.

It made Lupin roll his eyes at the pure immaturity. Even his mini detective had more self control than this one. This was not the kind of behavior he expected from a group of assassins. "Yeah, and I'm a model citizen."

Goemon silenced the thief with a wave of his hand. "You look young. Too young to be in a group as dangerous as the one we know you're in."

"I'm older than I look."

Conan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So that was the line the Organization fell for when they hired you? You were 'wise beyond your years,' right?"

That seemed to irritate the teenager. It was not hard to understand why. Conan had the ability to make grown men feel like preschoolers who still needed help in feeding themselves. Spend just ten minutes in his presence and you were left to wonder just what you had gone to school for, or just what you had been doing in your life when a child was about twenty times as smart as you were. He could irritate just about anyone.

"Shut up, brat."

"Ohhh, what a comeback." Conan said sarcastically, smug little smile staring back at the captive. "I'm so scared."

"Careful." Lupin chimed in. "That stare of his might just kill you."

"Well I hope he's better at killing by stare than he is by gun." Jigen added.

As the three had hoped, and expected, the boy in the chair continued to grow increasingly angrier by the second. The human heart was a wondrous thing. From it stemmed pride. Pride in itself was a great object to have on your side, whether it be yours or someone else's. If it was yours, you were likely not to be swayed by anything. If it was someone else's, you could use it to your advantage.

And while teasing a person simply to get a rise out of them was indeed childish, if it worked well enough to get him talking, then the ends would justify the means.

"Watch your damn mouth. I have half a mind to shoot that smile clear off your face."

Conan raised an eyebrow. "So what happened to the other half?"

"It obviously ran off with whatever skill the twerp might have had." Jigen commented dryly.

The group was desperately trying not to laugh as the boy in the chair squirmed yet again. Lupin finally gave into his whims and simply chuckled outright after about five minutes. "You know, we might gain some kind of respect for you if you'd just tell us what we needed to know."

The boy gave him a bland look. "You really expect me to believe that?"

"I honestly didn't expect you to be so sloppy and get caught so easily, but you've proved me wrong before."

Conan noted the incessant twitch in the shooters left eye. A smirk found its way to his face. They were breaking him. A teenagers pride was nothing if not easily accessible and all too ready to be bent to another's own purposes. He was slightly surprised that it was taking nothing more than a little teasing, but he would overlook it for the time being and analyze it later. Right then he had more important things to do.

"Just what were you trying to do anyway?" The mini detective asked. "Make a name for yourself?"

"No need." The captive spat out. "I made a name for myself long ago."

"What was it? Mr. No Can Shoot? Senior Work Hazard?"

Lupin ruffled Conan's hair. "I think it must have been something more spiritual than that. Something like, Runs Without Experience."

The boy began to struggle violently against the ropes that kept him restrained. His eyes were narrowed to enraged slits and his cheeks were flushed in humiliation. The taunts that held no true merit, and the jibes that were baseless at best, were beginning to affect his behavior far more than he probably would have liked. He was agitated, insulted, and just this side of extremely murderous. It wouldn't take too long now.

That was the problem with the youth, regardless of what generation they came from. Their pride was so terribly fragile, so viciously coveted beyond normal common sense, so highly valued, that many tended to do some very stupid things in its name. Things that would, in their minds, prove the contrary to any negative suggestion against it. Including, but not limited to, saying more than they should have in order to make a point.

It would not matter that everybody else in the given vicinity thought they were being absolute idiots. It would not matter that most would think that they were being too rash in their decisions. To the young people of the world with something to prove, society was not the main cause of concern. No, for them it was a matter of honor. It was about the restoration of their delicate mindsets. To those poor naive children, speaking more freely was about showing what they were really worth.

To anyone using those foolish tendencies to their advantage, it was just a more convenient way to gather information and gauge ability without doing any of the real dirty work. Bragging was, after all, a most lethal poison that people unknowingly consumed themselves.

He growled out, tone every bit as petulant as he looked at the moment, "I'm in no way unfit to be in the organization."

And just like that they had confirmation of where this man had come from, even though the question of who he was exactly was still in the air. It was a start.

Goemon could not help but look on in a sort of tired disbelief. He felt as though he was dealing with a small toddler throwing an irrational tantrum. "Forgive me if I have a hard time believing that high school drop outs have the criteria to become members of a very dangerous group of professional madmen."

This time the teenager tried to force his way out of his bonds by thrashing against them. "Don't talk about things you know nothing about!"

Lupin chuckled. "Excuse me, but, Pot, Kettle, black?"

"Shut up about your damn silverware!"

Conan raised an eyebrow. "You can't exactly blame us for doubting your story. You don't look the part of a careful assassin."

"I don't look like this by choice, princess."

The detective felt a sharp chill run down his spine. He should have been annoyed with a comment so obviously insulting in nature, but the underlying truth behind it made him sick to his stomach. "What do you mean?"

The others jaw clenched and the boy ground his teeth before finally answering after a frustrated sigh. "Isn't it obvious? This entire fiasco is the result of some unfortunate accident that I shouldn't have been a part of."

Lupin looked down to Conan, who was fixated on the figure sitting in front of him. "So how'd it end up happening?"

The teen kept his eyes on Conan. His gaze was so focused it was actually somewhat concerning.

The sight of such a murderous focus suddenly aimed towards the child detective made the thief uneasy. "Answer."

Still, those eyes did not waver from Conan. He did eventually give some kind of answer though. "What makes you think I would tell you anything?"

Two guns cocking, accompanied by the sound of a sword unsheathing, was enough to turn the teenager's attention away from the boy he had been gazing at so intently. He looked up in time to see two, presumably, loaded firearms being pointed at his head and the area surrounding his heart. To his short lived relief, the sword had not been entirely taken from its scabbard, but it was uncovered just enough to pose a very real threat, as well as prove a deadly point.

"So...I talk or I die?"

Lupin tried to smile menacingly. "Smart kid."

At the word 'kid' the teenager immediately brought his attention back to Conan. The detective had meanwhile never let his eyes leave their captive. That set of gazes was so focused, so intent, that not even the threat of oncoming death would have been enough to make them stray. Oddly enough, they were both trying to uncover answers they desperately needed. But whereas the teenager seemed to have found his, Conan was quick to realize he could not. For the first time in a long while he could not form deductions based on what he was given, even though he knew that all the pieces were right in front of him.

It scared him. If he could deduce, he couldn't know for certain. If he couldn't know, he couldn't hide. If he couldn't hide, he couldn't stop anyone from revealing his most guarded secrets. And it seemed as though, a few minutes later, his opponent had done just that.

And that teenager laughed. Of all the things that a captive staring down a grade school child could have done, he laughed.

Conan narrowed his eyes. There was a feeling in his gut he couldn't stand to name, and it was slowly getting worse. "What's so funny?"

The teen's eyes danced in a twisted glee. "All this time I've been rattling my brain, beating myself up, trying to figure out just who the heck it is you are. I know I've seen you somewhere before. I just couldn't for the life of me figure out where."

"Did you come to any valuable conclusion?"

The other nodded happily. "There's a bulky little folder about you down at HQ. Granted, most of it is dedicated to your taller, older version, but a good portion of it has your puny half in it too."

Conan tried to hide the fear, tried to hide the anxiety the other's accusation had caused. "Is there? Don't I feel special.

"You shouldn't." Suddenly the mirth was gone, replaced by an angry, bitter tone. "It's because of you that I'm in this mess."

Lupin scoffed. "How do you figure that?"

The captive's eyes narrowed at Conan. "How old do you think I am?"

It was the thief who answered. "17."

The boy smirked. "A 17 year old boy with access to a high class high caliber weapon and the means to hide his crimes with said weapon? I don't think so." He was met with silence. "Cat got your tongues?"

No one spoke.

"Okay, I'll be nice and let you all in on the secret. My name is Bourbon, and up until a short while ago, I was a relatively valuable sniper for the critically acclaimed Black Organization."

Goemon was still unconvinced. Something still didn't make sense. "Why up until a while ago? And why, despite your claim, don't you look the part?"

"Because a certain teenage detective and I share the same unfortunate set of circumstances." All who were in the room suddenly found it difficult to breathe. "Just as he became a pint sized version of himself named Conan Edogawa, I became a younger version of Bourbon."

Conan couldn't stop the tightening of his throat. Nor could he stop his eyes from widening, or the tears prickling at their edges.

And all the son of a gun did was smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shinichi Kudo, Detective of the East."

* * *

**Authors Note: Sorry to post and run, but there's about three people trying to post a bunch of things from this computer at one time to about three different sites, so I'll have to wish you all a happy holiday season and be off.**

**Vocaloid Song of the Day: Rolling Girl by Hatsune Miku. **


End file.
